BREAKING NEWS: Apple makes money

It's a close one, really close

Apple has kept up its record pace, posting a third-quarter profit of $10.67bn (£6.43bn), up 38 per cent year on year, from revenues of $49.6bn (£31.8bn).

The Cupertino giant said it flogged 47.5 million iPhones in what was its best-ever third fiscal quarter performance [PDF] to date. Revenues from the three-month period to June 27 were up 33 per cent year on year, while the $1.86 (£1.19) earnings per share was up 45 per cent over last year and just ahead of analyst estimates of $1.81 (£1.16).

Once again leading the way for Apple was the iPhone, which was up 35 per cent over last year's quarter in unit sales and accounted for $31.36bn (£20.16bn) in revenues, 63 per cent of Apple's quarterly haul. Thanks to the presence of the more-expensive iPhone 6 Plus, Apple reports an average sales price of $660 (£424).

Apple wouldn't provide much insight into how the Apple Watch was doing, as CEO Tim Cook told analysts he didn't want to give competitors a gauge on the market by revealing the number of watches Apple had built and sold.

He did note, however, that the Watch has only recently been able to meet retail demand and that the "other products" category it occupies grew revenues by 49 per cent despite including the dying iPod and shrinking accessory lines.

"Sales of the Watch did exceed our expectations and they did so with supply still trailing demand," was all Cook would offer.

The Mac business saw a 9 per cent increase in shipments with 4.79 million units sold compared to 4.413 million last year's quarter. Revenues were also up 9 per cent, $6.03bn (£3.88bn) compared to $6.615bn (£4.252bn) in 2014.

The iPad business continued to slide, as just 10.9 million units were shipped, down from last year's quarterly total of 13.28 million, an 18 per cent decrease. Revenue was down 23 per cent at $4.53bn (£2.91bn) compared to $5.89bn (£3.78bn).

Overall, the US ($20.29bn (£13.04bn) up 15 per cent) continues to be Apple's top market for revenues, though China was second with $13.2bn (£8.48bn), up 112 per cent. Europe contributed $10.34bn (£6.65bn), up 19 per cent, and Japan's $3.45bn (£2.22bn) were up 9 per cent.

Apple is shooting for a $50bn (£32bn) quarter to close out its fiscal year. The July-September Q4 guidance was placed at $49-51bn (£31-33bn). ®